Customer Rating:  
Summary: "History-Lite" this is NOT!
Comment: Asch's book assumes prior knowledge of the politico-religious landscape, and of the mindsets of the leaders, which served to foment the Thirty Years War. The prose is stolid, dull and sadly failed to bring the conflict to life for me.
Perhaps I'm being unfair - this book may well offer valuable and unprecedented insights to those capable of unravelling its complexities - however, this Lunchtime Historian was left little the wiser by the time he'd reached halfway.
So if you're looking for a book that serves as a useful introduction to The Thirty Years War, I would suggest that you avoid this work and perhaps explore Wedgwood's colourful, if somewhat archaic, tome instead.
Customer Rating:
Summary: essential reading
Comment: The Thirty Years War is a much maligned subject within the sphere of Early Modern History especially when it comes to works in English. anyone who has had to trawl through the narrative 'long march' of Wedgwood's work on the subject or has dared to bore themselves to death with Parker's waffling Spanish-sided account (let alone the drivel written on the subject by messrs. Limm and Lee)should be delighted to find this account by Asch both detailed and delightfully written. Based upon the student-market's need for detail between adverts on MTV Asch calmly explains the origins of the war while introducing the reader to strains of contemporary historical ideas, such as Confessionalisation, without intellectually patronising the average person. This is complemented with a simple approach to explanation and a good bibliography Despite the relative short length of the book the detail is complimented with a cetain air of relaxed narration as Asch deals with the war in its usual chronological phases, intertwining themes without losing the German perspective (Those brought up with Parker may be surprised to find out that the war did not begin and end with the Spanish). That Asch barely nods towards a noton of Hegemony is blessed testament to how far work on this subject has come from the days of Steinberg, whose thesis can now be demolished by even the most ineffective of history students. Although it is worth noting that the recent 350th anniversary of the Peace of Westphalia has left in its wake a tremendous collections of essays these are unobtainable from all but the largest of academic libraries. As such this work by Asch remains the single best work on the Thirty Years War for those who cannot read German and a wake up call to those who think that Germany did not exist between the latter stages of the Reformation and Goethe.
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